The path to photographic adventure

I’ve had people ask me where I shoot some of my graffiti photos. I shot the six photos above on the way in (the first three) and on the way out (the last three) as I headed back to the car.

Often, when I describe it, people ask me, “You really go down there?” and, “Isn’t it a little sketchy?” and, “How did you find it?”

Let me answer these questions.

1. Yes. I really do go down there. I’ve never felt completely unsafe, but I do leave my wallet in the car and carry my Blackberry with me.

2. Yes. It is a little sketchy. I once came upon a homeless “campsite”. I felt like I had just walked into someone’s bedroom. It was weird. I was trespassing on BC Rail land, but I felt like I had violated some person’s home. Weird.

3. I found it by living near it. The house in which I used to live was a couple of kilometers away, so I used to drive past this stretch of railway underpass. One day I noticed a large, colorful piece of street art. I found a nearby place to park and took a walk through the area. What I discovered was a street art paradise. So cool. I had driven past it hundreds of times, but had never really looked closely. Now I go down there once a month. It’s like documenting a living, ever-changing art exhibit.

BTW, more graffiti tomorrow.

Also, I know you call two photos together a diptych, and three are a triptych, but six? Is it a sestych? sextych? I don’t know, but I hope you like it.

2 responses

Interesting look at the process behind your art. Just love the surprises you can find right under your nose when you take a left turn from normal !
And If it’s not a “sextych”, it should be – I love the term, I will use it from now on.